www.Longfei-Taiji.co.uk	Longfei Taijiquan Association of Great Britain
		Longfei Newsletter Volume 7 Issue 3

Letter from the Chairman

Competition News

Marathon Man McGinlay wins four medals: The 13th Festival of Chinese Martial Arts & the 19th British Open Tai Chi Championships were held in Oxford on the 1 April 2007. This is probably the biggest and the longest running taijiquan event of its kind held in Great Britain. Picture captions p1 (4 people in gym): McGinlay magic: Barry (left) steals the show with four medals at the British Open and five medals and a sword in Sweden.

Most competitors that enter taijiquan competitions aspire to do well in one category or another and the more ambitious try their hand at two. So the majority compete either in forms, pushing hands or sanshou. Barry McGinlay entered five events in this year's championships and won four medals, two gold and two silver, wow! Entered in the 60kg Sanshou (free fighting) category, he secured 1st place and the Gold Medal. In the Fixed Step Push Hands he also won the Gold Medal. He was awarded the Silver Medal in Moving Step Push Hands and another Silver Medal for his Sword Form. To achieve four such results is a testimonial to Barry's dedication, perseverance, stamina and more. He should be rightfully proud of his success as we all are in the Longfei Association. Well done Barry!

Further success in Sweden: Another tremendous performance by Barry (Marathon Man) McGinlay in the Swedish Open Taijiquan Competition. Barry was awarded a sword for best overall performance: 1st place in Taiji Open Sword; 1st place in Moving Step Pushing Hands; 2nd place Fixed Step Pushing Hands; 2nd place Taiji Open Hand Form; 3rd place Restricted Step Pushing Hands.

Congratulations to David Arnold on the birth of his son from all his Longfei colleagues.

International Wushu News

1. Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008: The Executive Director of the Olympic Games has sent a letter to all the NOCs of the Olympic family at the beginning of 2007 announcing that there will be a Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008 during the Olympic Games. The dates are 21-24 August 2008. The venue will be the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium. The qualifying athletes will be from the 9th World Wushu Championships. A total of 120 athletes will be selected from 25 national federations and the events will feature taolu and sanshou (forms and free fighting). (It would appear to be a showcase for Chinese martial arts,selecting the best performers from the 9th World Championships).

2. World Wushu Championships: The 9th World Wushu Championships will be held in November 2007. Regulations governing the competition were circulated to all IWUF members in April 2007.

3. World Games 2009: The 9th World Games will be held in Gaoxiong, Taiwan 16-26 July 2009. The Secretary General of the IWUF has been involved in talks with the president of The International World Games Association and the Organising Committee of the World Games regarding Wushu issues on many occasions. The Gaoxiong Organising Committee have informed the IWUF that they have approved that wushu will be an invitational event at the games. Detailed information will be available to all IWUF members in due course.

4. Worldwide Wushu Events 2007: The 4th International Taijiquan Exchange Competition will be held in Jiaozuo, China in August. The 3rd World Taijiquan Health Conference will be held in December in Guangzhou, China.

5. IWUF Major Events 2007: The 9th World Wushu Championships will be held in Beijing in November 2007. The 4th Asian Junior Wushu Championships will be held in Jeongju, Korea, 27 June - 1 July 2007. The Youth Wushu Championships will be held in Warsaw, Poland. The 3rd South East Asian Wushu Championships will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 10-17 September 2007. The IWUF will hold an International Judges Examination Course in China. Detailed information will be sent to members soon. An IWUF International Coaches Training Course will be held in China. Detailed information will be available to members soon.

Richard Watson

Longfei Newsletter Volume 7 Issue 3 Table of Contents